‘Smash’ Showrunner Joshua Safran Sells Dramas to Fox, ABC

Though “Smash” may have bit the dust on NBC this year, its showrunner, Joshua Safran, has already lined up projects at both Fox and ABC.

“Royal,” set at Fox, is billed as a soap about a Kate Middleton-type caught having an affair. The lead is thrown out of the royal family and forced to take the only job she can get, working as an assistant to temperamental and drug-addicted designer Thomas King. Project was sold through 20th Century Fox TV and will be produced by Chernin Entertainment.

“Social Circle” lands at ABC through ABC Studios, with Fake Empire producing. The thriller, about the nature of friendship in the age of incessant texting, tweets and Instagrammed photos, centers on a group of twentysomethings who discovery they really don’t know each other at all.

“‘Gossip Girl’ and (feature film) ‘Endless Love’ were such fun to work on together,” Savage said. “We’re thrilled that ‘Social Circle’ has us all partnering once again. Joshua has a strong, sophisticated voice and a real feel for this world. The show is the perfect expression of the twisty storytelling he excels at.”